Şiva Cafe – Istanbul [Experience]

I would like to take some time to tell you about a café in İstanbul, which I am so convinced that every time i visit İstanbul, at least visit this Café every night.

Every time I visit Istanbul, I test at least one restaurant every day. I’ve never counted but I can say with a clear conscience that I have tested over 50 restaurants and cafes.

It’s hard to believe that of all the restaurants and cafés, only one has a honest account. That was Şiva Café restaurant.

I was in İstanbul with my wife and we stayed at Berk Guest House. One evening we wanted to go out and have some food.

We are out of our hotel, went down the street and turned two times right and there were already the men outside, who called us in. I asked them if they would offer vegetarian specialties and this was answered in the affirmative.

We looked at the price list outside and they also were okay, so we went in to give this cafe a try. We just ordered food and drink and then I also smoked a shisha.

I had already expected a high bill and wanted to pay. When the bill came, I was amazed how cheap that has been. I paid and we left the place. I remember that i’ve told my wife that I had never had such a thing.

Of course I could not understand why a restaurant writes honest bills, although 99 percent of the restaurants deliberately pump up the bills. That’s why I asked the shopkeeper (Mehmet Altunpak) and he explained it to me:

I worked near Taksim Square in a restaurant and my supervisor told me to pump up the bill from the customers I was working on. I did it and the client looked at me and said: Mehmet, I know you, you would not do that. Please correct the bill. Afterwards, I corrected the bill and found this situation so shameful that I decided to open a café with some other family members.

Since then he is said to have opened a restaurant and have resolved never to pump up the bills. With this principle, he has won me as a regular guest.

In Şiva you can have breakfast, lunch and dinner. You can also order a variety of drinks such as freshly squeezed juices or cocktails and enjoy them with a shisha.

During the summer season, the roof terrace is opened, which offers a beautiful view over Istanbul.

The atmosphere is very cozy and it is also extremely important to know that you can completely trust the service of a restaurant.

This year I was lucky enough to meet the cook and I also saw that everything you ordered there is freshly made. I ordered a fruit plate and saw that the person who took the order went to the fruit grower and bought everything fresh.

At a time when almost all of Turkey is busy earning money by scams, there is a café owner who does not allow himself to be influenced by this crowd and is honest. That’s admirable to me.

You have to imagine it this way: Either a restaurant gives a high bill and gets good money (about 10 € more once) or he stays fair and gets tips again and again and you come there during your vacation every day (about 100 € more per person per Vacation).

Since then, I have been going there again and again and have taken my friends there as well.

The service is good, the food is good and the atmosphere is great. I love it there myself and would recommend it to you as well.